Desk arrangement

ABSTRACT

A CLIP-ON ATTACHMENT FOR A METAL DESK HAVING A DEPENDING RAIL AT ITS FRONT EDGE WITH A HORIZONTAL GROOVE NEAR THE TOP HAS A PAIR OF METAL TUBES EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY AND BENT DOWNWARDLY TO THE FLOOR AT THE END REMOTE FROM THE DESK TOP. A SHEET METAL TOP JOINS THE TUBES AND EXTENDS VERTICALLY AND HORIZONTALLY TO ENGAGE THE GROOVE AT THE EDGE OF THE MAIN DESK. EACH TUBE AT ITS   END CARRIES A CLAMPING HOOK EXTENDING UNDERNEATH AND UPWARDLY INSIDE THE RAIL. THE TUBES MAY SUPPORT AN OPEN TOP FILING TRAY AND A TAMBOUR COVER IS SLIDABLE ALONG THE TUBES FROM A POSITION OVER THE TRAY TO A STOWED POSITION ALONG THE VERTICAL PORTIONS OF THE TUBES.

y 1972 J. w. NEUFELD DESK ARRANGEMENT Filed Sept. 14, 1970 5 INVENTOR. BY Mm ZZfl/wfi/d United States Patent 3,666,339 DESK ARRANGEMENT John W. Neufeld, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, asslgnor to Massey-Ferguson Industries Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Filed Sept. 14, 1970, Ser. No. 71,811

Int. Cl. A47b 17/00 U.S. Cl. 312-277 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clip-on attachment for a metal desk having a depending rail at its front edge with a horizontal groove near the top has a pair of metal tubes extending honzontally and bent downwardly to the floor at the end remote from the desk top. A sheet metal top joins the tubes and extends vertically and horizontally to engage the groove at the edge of the main desk. Each tube at its end carries a clamping hook extending underneath and upwardly inside the rail. The tubes may support an open top filing tray and a tambour cover is slidable along the tubes from a position over the tray to a stowed position along the vertical portions of the tubes.

Modern industrial and commercial establishments experience frequent changes in their requirements for office furniture due to their frequent changes in organization, personnel and oil-ice layouts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved metal desk having a clip-on attachment for secretarial or similar purposes which may be easily removed or applied either singly or in combination at any one of the corners of the desk top.

A further object is to provide a desk with a clip-on attachment of the character described which is simple to apply and remove, with connecting means which preserve the attractive appearance of the desk both with and without the attachment applied to it.

These objects are achieved by the invention which consists in the combination with a desk or the like having a top, a depending rail at the edge of the top, and a horizontal groove in the edge near the top of the rail, of a clip on, table attachment for forming an L-shaped desk unit comprising a top portion, including means for supporting the top portion from the fioof at a point spaced from the main desk and means for supporting the end of the attachment at the edge of the main desk, including a rigid hook engageable in the groove, a clamping hook engageable underneath and inside the rail, and means for drawing the clamping hook and the attachment top together against the inside and outside of the rail respectively.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a desk incorporating a preferred form of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the front edge of the desk showing the clip-on attachment about to be applied.

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing the clip-on attachment in place.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a clamping hook and its attaching means.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic top view illustrating alternate arrangements.

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, the main desk has a top supported on end pedestals 12. The top may have an opening to reecive a file tray 14 containing suspension files 16 and which may be closed by a two-part hinged lid 18. The desk has a longitudinal 3,666,339 Patented May 30, 1972 edge rail 20, as shown in FIG. 2, positioned immediately below the front edge of the top 10. A groove 22 is pro-' vided along the full length of the desk top, preferably at both of its longitudinal sides. The groove 22 is both ornamental and functional. v

The clip-on attachment is preferably constructed fro a pair of tubes 24 bent at right angles to form depending supporting legs 26 joined by a stile 28. A table top 30'of sheet metal joins the tubes 24 at their right-hand end and a file tray 32 joins them near their left end. Slidable in grooves on the inner edge of the tubes is a tambour cover 34 which may be slid up from its stowed position, as shown in FIG. 1, to a position covering the tray 32.

The right-hand end of the table ttop 30 is extended upwardly and outwardly to form a sheet metal hook 36 which is engageable in the groove 22, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. For the purpose of tightly clamping the secretarial attachment to the main desk, clamping hooks 38 are provided. Each clamping hook is of non-circular cross section, preferably square, and along its horizontal leg is provided with screw threads on each of the corners of the square. Press fitted into the end of the tube 24 is a plug 40 having a longitudinal groove 42 which is shaped to receive the hook 38 in slidable but non-rotatable relationship. A transverse slot 44 in the plug registers with a lateral opening 46 near the end of the tube 24. These receive a nut 48 which engages the threads of the clamping hook 38. Thus, when the parts illustrated in FIG. 4 are assembled as shown in FIG. 3, the hook 38 is drawn into the tube 24 by tightening the nut 48. This clamps the rigid hook 36 and the entire secretarial attachment to the rail 20 in a secure and attractive manner.

The clip-on attachment may be readily removed by loosening the nuts 48 which are conveniently accesible without getting under the desk and the attachment may be relocated adjacent any one of the four corners of the top 10 as suggested in FIG. 5 Likewise, two secretarial attachments may be applied to a single desk top 10. In addition, clip-on attachments having difierent features of construction than the one illustrated may be substituted and freely interchanged. By these means, any of a large variety of desk arrangements may be readily put together to meet the changing needs of a modern oflice.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a desk or the like having a top, a depending rail at the edge of the top and having a horizontal groove at the edge near the top of the rail, a clip-on table attachment for forming an L-shaped desk unit, said attachment comprising a pair of tubes at its front and back edges and a sheet metal top connecting the tubes, said tubes extending downwardly to floor level at the end of the attachment remote from said desk to form a support for said attachment at a point spaced from said desk, a rigid hook connected to said attachment and engaged in said groove, a clamping hook engaged underneath and inside the rail with respect to said attachment and means for drawing the clamping hook and attachment toward each other and against the inside and outside of the rail respectively.

2. In combination with a desk or the like having a top, a depending rail at the edge of the top and having a horizontal groove in the edge near the top of the rail, a clipon table attachment for forming an L-shaped desk unit comprising a top portion, means for supporting the top portion from the floor at a point spaced from the desk and means for supporting the end of the attachment at the edge of the desk including a rigid hook engageable in the groove, a clamping hook engageable underneath and inside the rail and means for drawing the clamping hook and the attachment toward each other and against the inside and outside of the rail respectively, said attachment comprising a pair of tubes at its front and back edges with a sheet metal top connecting the tubes, one of said tube ends containing a plug having a non-central, non-circular longitudinal channel, the clamping hook being in slideable but non-rotatable engagement with said plug, a lateral opening extending through said plug and its associated tube and a nut in threaded engagement with said hook and rotatably mounted in said opening and extending therethrough to the exterior of said tube.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein a tambour cover is slideable along the tubes between a vertical and a horizontal position.

4. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein the channel in the plug is a rectangular slot cut in its side and the clamping hook is of square cross section with threads on the corners of the square.

3,369,930 12/1967 Schreyer 312281 2,401,181 5/1946 Paxton etal 312 2s1x 2,361,764 10/1944 Golden 248-226 B 2,853,354 9/1953 Miller et al. "312-291 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner Us. 01. xn. 

